The latest season of The Challenge has brought a lot of surprising eliminations and competitors leaving the show for a variety of reasons.
There have been injuries and personal reasons for several rookies who left the show. However, several veteran competitors have announced they are retiring from The Challenge.
The latest made their announcement following Double Agents Episode 9 which featured a dominant elimination performance by one competitor.
Double Agents episodes showed veteran’s struggles
In the ninth episode of Double Agents, the house rallied behind Kam Williams, Nany Gonzalez, and Amber Borzotra to stack the votes against Theresa Jones.
Kam had been targeting Theresa for several episodes. It started after Theresa and her partner Jay Starrett sent Kam into elimination to face Ashley Mitchell without giving a proper heads up.
With Episode 9, Amber B. was part of the Double Agents power team with Darrell Taylor. She contemplated them sending Gabby Allen down into elimination so someone could eliminate her. However, a chat with Nany Gonzalez got Amber to realize it was smarter to get rid of Theresa because she’d be tougher to compete against in a final.
During deliberation, Theresa realized everyone was targeting her and just accepted that she would probably go into elimination. Once the voting had been finalized, it was Theresa and her newest partner, Cory Wharton, who had the most votes.
At The Crater for elimination, Amber B. had the option to go down and face Theresa for a Gold Skull, but instead, she chose to put her Big Brother ally Kaycee Clark in to try to earn hers.
The elimination event was Snapping Point, where both Theresa and Kaycee were attached at opposite ends of a harness. They had to race in the sand for metal rings once TJ Lavin blew the horn. The object was to grab a ring and place it on one of the posts. Once a competitor did that three times, they were declared the winner.
When all was said and done, Kaycee put on a dominant display by winning 3-0 while Theresa appeared to be stuck in the sand. That meant Kaycee was the latest women’s Gold Skull winner, joining Aneesa Ferreira and Kam Williams. It also meant Theresa was eliminated.
She didn’t have too many people on her side in the house following her previous scheme to pit veterans Kam and Ashley against one another. Initially, most of the rookie females and Tula “Big T” Fazakerley appeared to be aligned with Theresa, but it changed in Episode 9.
Also, Theresa admitted to partner Cory that she had dealt with post-partum depression and anxiety related to giving birth and having kids. On The Challenge Aftermath show, Cory said that he thinks his teammate was “mentally checked out” at elimination.
The Challenge vet announces her retirement
Theresa explained in her confessional after losing the elimination that the harness was tight on her left arm, and she couldn’t move her arm too well, so it became a tough battle against Kaycee.
“I was just struggling to get my footing, and it just wasn’t my day,” she admitted in the clip below.
“I’m super happy I came back. It was fun. It was kind of crazy. I was happy I tried it one more time, so it was good,” she said, adding, “I’m really indifferent who wins.”
Theresa mentioned she hopes Cory wins because he’s had a rough year. She also praised her elimination opponent, Kaycee, calling her a “tremendous athlete” and saying she wouldn’t mind if she won the season.
“I more than likely will not be back, so this is my last one,” Theresa said as she became choked up about that reveal.
“It has to be. I can’t do this s**t anymore. I can’t. I love my life too much,” she added as she wiped away tears.
The Challenge veteran also said she couldn’t wait to be home so she could be back with her husband T.J. Jones and kids.
Weeks ago, as the season was airing, Theresa revealed she is expecting her third child with her husband. She also revealed online to a fan that she needed to get a particular surgery she’d been putting off, and once she did, she’d be in recovery mode and not back for The Challenge.
The Challenge: Double Agents airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.